September 2026 Jobs Report: +29,000 Jobs, 4.2% Unemployment and $37.81 Average Pay
- Nonfarm payrolls rose 29,000 in September 2026, and the unemployment rate was 4.2%.
- Average hourly earnings for private employees rose 5 cents to $37.81, up 3.0% over the year.
- July and August job gains were revised down by a combined 60,000.
The monthly jobs report is the best single snapshot of the labor market, and it says a lot about how much leverage you have when you ask for more money. Here are the September 2026 numbers (BLS Employment Situation, September 2026).
Jobs and unemployment
Both payroll employment (+29,000) and the unemployment rate (4.2%) changed little. The rate has stayed between 4.1% and 4.3% since March, and 7.1 million people were unemployed. The long-term unemployed, those jobless 27 weeks or more, numbered 1.9 million, or 27.1% of the unemployed. Payroll growth had averaged 45,000 a month over the prior 12 months.
Pay and hours
| Measure (September 2026) | Level | 12-month change |
|---|---|---|
| Average hourly earnings, all private employees | $37.81 | +3.0% |
| Average hourly earnings, production and nonsupervisory | $32.60 | — |
| Average workweek, all private employees | 34.4 hours | — |
| Manufacturing workweek | 40.6 hours (3.0 hours overtime) | — |
Where the jobs are
- Health care added 17,000 jobs, slower than its 33,000 monthly average over the prior year; ambulatory care (+13,000) and hospitals (+12,000) grew, while nursing and residential care lost 9,000.
- Construction added 11,000, led by nonresidential specialty trade contractors (+12,000).
- Manufacturing added 9,000 and is up 72,000 since December 2025.
- Financial activities is down 129,000 since May 2025, mostly at insurance carriers (−90,000).
What it means for you
Pay growth of 3.0% is below the 3.7% rise in consumer prices over the 12 months to September (BLS Consumer Price Index, September 2026), so the average worker is losing ground. With hiring slow outside health care, a raise from your current employer may be easier to get than a new job, but health care and the skilled trades are still adding positions.
Published October 27, 2026. Sources are linked in the text.
Header image: original graphic by JobPayRaise.com.
Comments (1)
Another sign of a cooler market: in August 2026, workers quit 3.1 million jobs, a quit rate of 1.9%. Fewer quits usually mean less pressure on employers to raise pay. Source: BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover, August 2026.